I don't recall him being this bad with OKC. I didn't really follow him that much but when I did see him, he always seemed to do a pretty good job. I even remember him playing good D on Kobe when sefalosha wasn't in.
But with Houston, this dude is, by far, the worst defender. He's in bad position often, is lazy with his close outs, and is a matador when it comes to guarding the ball. Today, against Denver, he was especially bad. I know he's just coming back from injury and a back to back...but his effort was so bad even Mchale benched him for the first time in what seems like the entire season.
Is it cuz he focuses more on offense now or is he just getting lazy?
I could never figure out where the myth of Harden being anything other than a below average defender came from. To say his D is average is being very kind.
Is it cuz he focuses more on offense now or is he just getting lazy?
A little bit of both. He couldn't really D up today because he got in foul trouble early. Either way he's been pretty lazy on D the whole season. He's the number one option for his team now, he can expend so much energy on defense anymore. That's why I respect guys like Durant and Westbrook, they play on both sides of the floor. Harden will never be better than Westbrook, not until he starts playing some f*cking defense. It's not easy but it can be done.
I don't think he's ever been a good defender, outside of a few occasional possessions. Usually his scoring can offset his defense, but when it can't...shit goes bad lol. Hope he puts more effort into improving his defense, just that would make him a lot more well rounded.
I could never figure out where the myth of Harden being anything other than a below average defender came from. To say his D is average is being very kind.
This. Harden got a "rep" for being a solid defender because of a couple of national televised games last season where he played pretty physical defense with Kobe and was seen going back and forth verbally with him in crunch minutes.
People who just watch basketball games when they appear on ESPN and TNT will tell you that Harden is a good defender. People who watch basketball games between the nationally televised ones will tell you that Harden's never been a consistently good defender.
He could be a good defender. but we wont know until Houston commits to defense. Right now their strategy is to run, run and run. defense is an afterthought unless its the end of the game and the score is tight. So to judge him on defense in HOU isnt accurate. McHale's scheme and Moreyball isnt primarily defense. Its to score the most points in the league.
What happened to Harden's defense?
..........
